Program Notes

Métamorphoses

Francis Poulenc 
poetry by Louise de Vilmorin

Poulenc composed this three-song cycle on poems by Louise de Vilmorin.  Vilmorin was one of Poulenc’s favorite people and poets, as he wrote in his Journal de mes melodies (Diary of My Songs), a commentary on all of his pieces, "...because she is beautiful, because she writes innately immaculate French, because her name evokes flowers and vegetables, because she loves her brothers like a lover and her lovers like a sister." He also admired that her poetry had a "sensitive audacity....wantonness…avidity which extended into song."

Part of Poulenc’s motivation in writing this song set was to honor his own memories of Vilmorin, as she and her husband were trapped in Hungary at the outbreak of World War II, and Poulenc wasn’t sure when or if  he would ever see her again; (luckily, he did, as she returned to Paris a few years later).

The first song of the set,"Reine des mouettes" (Queen of the Seagulls) is very straightforward, presented with an elegant gracefulness.  Pierre Bernac, Poulenc’s greatest song interpreter explains that this piece is not about an actual bird but is actually about a "charming and elegant young woman blushing behind gray muslin veils." Short and light, it serves as an excellent introduction to the next song of the cycle, “C’est ainsi que tu es.”  

"C'est ainsi que tu es" (It Is Thus That You Are) is a very romantic, and highly lyrical piece.  Even though Poulenc advises that one sing it "without affectation," Bernac advises that one should not "...fear to surrender to it."  

The last song of this set, "Paganini," consists of brilliant word play, rapid singing, and vivid text painting.  Poulenc replaced the original title of this third poem, “Métamorphoses'' with his own, "Paganini," the name of one of the most famous virtuosic violinists of the nineteenth century.  Poulenc believed this title better showcased the variety of images conjured up by the text.

“C” by Poulenc
Poetry by Louis Aragon

“C” is one of Poulenc's most famous and poignant songs.  This piece comes from his song set, Deux Poemes de Louis Aragon, which was published in 1944, during one of the bloodiest periods in France's history.  At this time, the Nazis had occupied the country for four years, leaving France's infrastructure nearly non-existent, and millions of French citizens and soldiers dead.  The title “C” refers to the bridges of Cé (“Les Ponts de Cé”), near Angers, which was an area of France that had seen many battles, death and destruction dating from the Battle of Tours in 732, to the Hundred-Years War in the 14th and 15th Centuries to the end of the civil war in the 17th century.  The text reveals a contrast between the ancient battles at Les Ponts de Cé and the devastation and conflict that both Aragon and Poulenc were experiencing at the time of World War II.   There are four verses throughout this song and an added couplet, in which every line ends with the sound “cé.” 

This piece represented the French resistance during World War II and for that reason, Bernac and Poulenc included it on all of their recitals that they performed together during the Occupation.  Bernac recalled one such performance when the French audience rose and stood silently at the conclusion of this song, while the German audience sat in confusion.  

Poems of Love and the Rain

Ned Rorem

Poetry by Donald Windham, W.H. Auden, Howard Moss, Emily Dickinson, Theodore Roethke, Jack Larson, E. E. Cummings, Kenneth Pitchford, and Roethke

Rorem is most well-known for his song compositions.  Rorem’s music is largely influenced by the contemporary French school, as his training under Aaron Copland and Virgil Thomson was influenced by their French teacher, Nadia Boulanger.  Rorem also spent six years studying composition in France, which played a substantial role in his compositional style.  Another notable characteristic of Rorem’s music is the importance he placed on the relationship between the poetry and the music.  Rorem was incredibly selective about the poetry he used, stating that “in a single day I would sometimes spill out four or five songs, indiscriminately, some terrific, some terrible, but all based on good texts, for poetry was my first love.”

Poems of Love and the Rain is a palindromic song cycle, meaning that  the first eight poems of this set are repeated in reverse order after a hinging interlude, set to new music.  This provides the listener with two musical interpretations and settings of the same poem, shedding new light and perspectives on each text.  In the “Composer’s Notes” at the beginning of the set, Rorem described the general layout of the set; “The technical problem I set for myself is, so far as I know, unprecedented, going on the principle that if a poem is “good” there is more than one way of musicalizing it.”

Rorem compiled a set of nine different poems, all written by different poets.  The general nature and theme of this cycle is presented in the first song, called “Prologue.”  This piece not only brings up the unifying theme of rain, but also the vastness and mystery of the universe.  Rorem instructs the performers to go right into the second song from the first, without any pause or break.  The second song of the set “Stop all the Clocks, Cut Off The Telephone,” set to poetry by W. H. Auden, has been a popular poem set by other composers including Benjamin Britten.  The almost melodramatic nature of the poem gives the composer many options and possibilities when it comes to setting the text to music.  Rorem begins this piece epically, at a loud dynamic in the upper register of the mezzo’s voice, with an almost orchestral-like texture in the piano accompaniment.  This initial burst of passion is subdued later on when the vocal line and accompaniment drop to a more sentimental moment, when the singer recounts their love and loss of their beloved, “he was my north, my south, my east, my west.”  Many of the vocal lines emulate a cry or sob from the singer, as if the vocalist is almost losing control of their voice, overcome by the utmost despair.  The third song of the set, “The Air Is The Only,” is a good example of Rorem’s use of old compositional techniques utilized in a new, contemporary manner.  While the piece is tonal, exploring free modulations, Rorem also utilizes modern dissonances.  While the text is hard to comprehend and doesn’t make much sense, the music showcases the effect of the piece, a breath of fresh air, especially after the dramatic start to the set.  

       “Love’s Stricken, “Why”” is one of the shortest songs in this set, at only six measures long.  This poem fits right into the overall theme of the cycle which is love, or loss of it.  The poem, written by Emily Dickinson, is made up of only four lines, which could be in relation to the idiom “love is a four letter word,” speaking to the concept of how one little word, love, can cause so much unspeakable melancholy.  The fifth song of the set, “The Apparition” gives the listener an overall effect of violence and brutality, which is supported by the very angular melodic line.  Other musical characteristics of this song supporting its harshness are the dramatic changes in dynamic and the short, accented interjections in the piano accompaniment.  Now for something completely different, the sixth song of this set, “Do I Love You,” written by Jack Larson, conveys a sweet, melodic and gentle portrayal of a life-changing love.  The second reiteration of this poem however (or the twelfth song of the cycle) presents a very fast, almost frantically energetic portrayal of the text.  The seventh poem of the set, “In the Rain,” carries two distinct patterns in the accompaniment, the first are quarter note trills on two different pitches, and the second is a rapid arpeggiation of thirds on the white keys of the piano.  These two figures in the accompaniment could represent the fast falling rain drops, creating a sense of energy and excitement for the narrator’s portrayal of their love.  One of the most powerful and difficult pieces of the set, “Song for Lying in Bed During a Night Rain,” is driven both by the rhythm of the piano accompaniment and the melody.   This song continues the theme of the set, which is rain and love, but now, we see a kind of love that is in jeopardy, one that is judged and not accepted.  e.e. cummings, the poet of this song, had numerous relationships and marriages to women, including a romantic relationship with a prostitute.  One could speculate that this poem represents how the social pressures and norms of society can jeopardize an authentic and pure love.  While the first setting of this poem is frantic and angry, the second setting portrays more devastation and heartache.  Finally, the “Interlude,” which is only set once in this song cycle and acts as the transition before each song is repeated, is presented a cappella, without any piano accompaniment.  The effect of setting this piece without any accompaniment creates a dramatic vocal line, which seems more detailed in its representation of the text.

Cowboy Songs

Libby Larsen 
Poetry by Belle Starr and Robert Creeley

The Cowboy Songs are a set of three character songs composed by American composer, Libby Larsen.  Two of the texts are drawn from cowboy/girl poetry, “Bucking Bronco” with a text by Belle Starr and “Billy the Kid” (not performed on today’s recital) with an anonymous text. The third piece of the set, “Lift me into Heaven Slowly” is the retitled “Sufi Sam Christian” of American poet Robert Creeley.

Cowboy/girl poetry is exactly what it sounds like, poems that originate from cowboys and cowgirls from the heart and soul of the West, that circle around themes of “jinglin’ the horses home, haymakin’ time, cowboy courtin’, livin’ free, July thunderstorms and other things close to a cowboy/girl’s heart,.” says Virgina Bennett, a well-known author of cowboy poetry.  

Composed in 1979 for Larsen’s fellow graduate student Jeannie Brindley Barnett, Larsen believed these three poems made a nice set, “suggesting a narrative without specifying one, creating the opportunity to begin working with American English as a source of musical syntax and shape.”

Irreveries from Sappho

Elizabeth Vercoe
Poetry by Sappho

Irreveries for Sappho is wickedly satiric and full of musical jokes and parodies on the subject of jealousy, ageism, and gossip. The composer comments: "Although Sappho's poetry is over 2500 years old, the deft translations by Mary Barnard seem remarkably up-to-date. Sappho's wit calls for whatever musical sleight of hand a composer might muster: thus the use of popular idioms and hidden tunes ('Turkey in the Straw,' 'Auld Lang Syne'), as well as the more respectable tricks of the trade such as counterpoint and recitative. Sappho's three women have clearly distinctive voices, but all three bespeak a fierce pride."

Sappho was an Archaic Greek poet from an island called Lesbos.  She is known for her lyric poetry, written with the intent to be sung while accompanied by music.  Although little is known of Sappho's life, she is regarded as one of the greatest lyric poets of all time, and composed around 10,000 lines during her lifetime, although, sadly, much of her work is lost today.  Beyond her poetry, she is also known as a symbol of love and desire between women.  The English words sapphic and lesbian are actually derived from Sappho’s name and the Island one which she grew up.  Many interpretations of her poetry revolve around discussions of her sexuality.  

Texts and Translations